Everybody Lives
by Cyndi
Summary: River learns exactly how far the Doctor will go to be with her.


Note: I don't care if this gets Jossed during the next season. I wrote this for fun to give my soul some closure with Eleven. He's my first Doctor and I really like the idea of...well, you'll see!

.o

**Everybody Lives**

.o

It all began when River Song removed her green evening gown. She stood naked in the TARDIS hallway, listening to her excited husband's rambling.

"...and that high note! Flawless! Just flawless!"

A black tuxedo jacket draped itself over the modesty screen beside the TARDIS wardrobe.

"The harmony had at least forty seven different notes!" The Doctor's voice almost climbed a boyish octave higher than normal. "Ah, nothing like good music and a lovely wife to make a night wonder- " He reappeared in his brown tweed suit and a red bow-tie. At the sight of River, he stopped short. The last syllable of his sentence escaped as a whisper," -ful."

River smiled. "Hello, sweetie."

"Uh, your um...stuff is, um, I can see your- what I meant was..." the Doctor squinted and scratched his chin. He focused very hard on her eyes. "You're naked."

She fluffed her curly hair and glanced down, shrugging. "So I am."

He fidgeted with his jacket lapels. "It's...uh, brr! It's...chilly in here, isn't it?"

No, it wasn't.

River ran her tongue along the backs of her front teeth. She advanced on her nervous husband like a predator stalking prey. In a moment, her bare breasts were pressed against his chest. She was so close she could smell him. His clothes smelled like peppermint and his skin had the scent of warm beach sand. She breathed him in and exhaled on his lips.

"You can't take me to a place like that and not expect me to say thank you." River said huskily.

The Doctor's hearts thumped quicker against her breasts. His pink tongue swiped across his lips. Once. Twice. Three times. She felt him starting to harden beneath his fitted trousers.

"River," his voice was a whisper, barely louder than breath and carrying unspoken emotions.

Sometimes his antics made him seem like a little boy. Here, now, pressed against the length of his body, River could tell how much of a _man_ he truly was.

Earlier that night, she saw him cry. Not a tear or two- full on weeping. He said it was the music. She knew it had to be more than that.

Did he realize his eyes were beautiful when he cried?

"Doctor," River whispered against his lips. She reached under his jacket, grasped his suspenders and kissed him deeply.

The Doctor, who until then had been trying to place his hands anywhere but on her nakedness, finally let his cool palms rest on her shoulder blades. Then his arms were around her, greedily keeping her pressed flush against his body.

"Your hearts are out of synch." River grinned.

The Doctor grinned back, "You have that effect on me."

She loved his boyish smile. The crinkle of his eyes. That silly way his hair fell to one side of his forehead. She reached up and ran her fingers through its smooth softness, never taking her gaze away from his.

"So," she touched him through his trousers, "Does your bedroom have a bunk bed like the others?"

"Actually, it's a mezzanine bed. A bed with a ladder...it's _cool!_" The Doctor's voice hitched at her feeling him up. His Adam's apple bobbed in a swallow. "W-would you like to see it, River?"

"It's that or I have my way with you right here."

"Mm, bedroom. Yes, bedroom! The bedroom is very good! Come along." The Doctor squirmed out of River's grasp and walked briskly through one of the many doorways within the TARDIS control room. River took a moment to appreciate his long legs before quickly catching up.

The Doctor's bedroom looked as charmingly garish as his personality. River noticed the black shag carpet, a trampoline in one corner and a hanging egg chair with a red cushion near the bed. Books were piled haphazardly beneath it. His desk was tucked into the alcove created by the bed above it and, as River expected, it was a mess. The bed existed on a wooden shelf in the wall. The only way up was the rope ladder attached to one corner.

River rather enjoyed the view of the Doctor's bum when he scaled the rope ladder like an expert. He dangled his head over the side of the bed, frowning.

"Aren't you cold without any clothes on?"

She feigned offense. "Aren't you hot _with_ your clothes on?"

"Yes." He winked. "And so are you."

"You!" River caught his joke. She climbed up the ladder, grabbed his ankles and pulled his shoes off. They crashed into the pile of books under the egg chair. His socks soon followed. Then River and the Doctor tumbled together onto his dinosaur comforter in a tangle of limbs.

But the Doctor quickly reversed their position. River gazed deeply into his green eyes. Green like leaves under glass. So old, yet so young at the same time...and so, so very sad.

"River," he whispered, "Let's not rush this."

Being naked beneath his fully clothed body left River feeling extremely vulnerable.

And she liked it.

"I'm not in any hurry." River peered at him through her eyelashes.

The Doctor straightened long enough to shrug out of his tweed jacket. Then he descended on River like a storm. His lips, tongue and fingers worshiped her in ways she never thought possible. He left her gasping and nearly helpless, and she remembered again that he was more than the manchild he pretended to be.

River recovered quickly. Hooking her leg around the Doctor's knee, she flipped him onto his back and straddled his waist, careful not to crush his obvious erection. The effect he'd had upon her became evident in the small wet stains she left on his trousers.

Without a word and without breaking eye contact, River gently untied the Doctor's bow-tie. She dangled it between her breasts before tossing it aside. Next, she slipped his suspenders off his shoulders and slowly began to unbutton his shirt. Each time she loosened a button, she kissed the skin she exposed beneath it until she reached the waistline of his trousers.

The Doctor moaned in anticipation. River grinned. He did so much to her. Payback was only fair.

She yanked his trousers off, leaving him in his unbuttoned shirt and a pair of gaudy Batman boxers.

"Batman?" River arched a sculpted brow.

"I like Batman. Batman is cool," the Doctor replied.

River shook her head, grabbed the edges of his boxers and literally ripped them in half. Just like the fez- they _had_ to go!

"Oy! Those are my favorite pair!"

"Oops." River wasn't sorry. She slipped the Doctor's loose shirt off and cast it aside near his ruined boxers. Now she could finally see all of him. He looked like someone still in the process of growing- his lanky limbs were almost too long for the rest of him. His pubic hair was as sparse as his eyebrows and his impressive uncircumcised erection twitched slightly in time with his heartbeats.

River wrapped her hand around its warmth and retracted the foreskin. The Doctor closed his eyes. River heard him groan low in his throat.

"You just lay back now," she said.

Then she took him into her mouth. The Doctor sucked in a breath. He was slightly sweaty, but very clean. The tip of his penis felt smooth and spongy against her tongue. He tasted like the sea. She treated the tip as a popsicle and pulled his foreskin up and down along the shaft.

"Oh-oh...ahh!" The Doctor's bottom lip disappeared behind his top teeth. "Grip tighter- y-yes, very good! Oh...faster, please, ah..."

River liked that expression. She rolled him around on her tongue to make him do it again. His face and chest grew steadily redder until, finally, his abdominal muscles twitched and he threw his head back with a soft cry. River felt him pulsate in her mouth a split second before she tasted the salt of his release.

"River..." The word was a gasp. He wiped his hair off his brow and lifted his head to gaze at her. His eyes still glistened with the aftershocks from his recent climax.

Now they were even.

The Doctor grinned and scrambled to be on top again. His sudden motion rumpled the comforter on the bed. River laughed and playfully wrestled with him. He pinned her down, chuckling, and breathed heavily against her ear.

In retaliation, she pinched his backside.

"I have something- oof! -important to tell you." He sobered and kissed her hand. "Something very important and very secret that you mustn't repeat to anyone else. I'm putting my life in your hands with what I am about to tell you. You must promise to never, ever repeat this unless it's an emergency."

Oh, that man! Always full of secrets and mystery!

River's eyes twinkled. "You should know by now that I'm excellent at keeping secrets." She traced the curve of his jaw. "I promise...and I'm listening."

They were naked together. Almost nothing stood between them.

He leaned closer and whispered his name in her ear. His _real_ name. The sound of it opened something deep within her. That was the _something_ in their way, and he removed it like a cast-off cloak.

River's heart raced. It fit him. All of his faces...it just _fit_.

"Why?" she asked him.

His face became serious. "Because our timelines are going to be out of synch again soon. I would never give my name to someone I didn't trust. Whisper it to any of my past selves and I'll trust you...even when the me you meet doesn't know you anymore."

A day River dreaded more than the thought of her own death. Tears stung in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away.

"It's a lovely name," she said against his smooth cheek.

"Yours sounds like a superhero." He rumbled in her ear. "My dear Melody Pond, yes."

Usually, the sound of her given name made River roll her eyes. Hearing it from the Doctor's lips sent heat straight to her loins. She nibbled his earlobe and scratched her fingernails across his shoulders. He gasped, moving her hand down to his tailbone. She took great amusement in the way he pushed his backside against her hand like a cat wanting attention.

"I read something amazing happens when a Time Lord and Time Lady climax together." She purred. "I want to experience it myself."

He blinked. Once. Twice. River could see the wheels in his mind turning. Suddenly his eyes lit up like they always did when he came up with a plan.

"I'm a bit of a hair trigger," said the Doctor. He traced lazy patterns on her left breast with his fingertips until her nipple stood on end. His manhood, which previously laid flaccid against her leg, was stirring back to life. He glanced down at it. "It may require some stopping and starting. I uh...haven't uh...at least not this cycle, I haven't- er...it's been a very, very long time since I...um..."

He was cute when he got all flustered.

River smirked, kissed his nose and tugged on the bed sheets. Once they settled between them, she caressed the lock of hair always hanging over the side of his forehead.

"It's okay, sweetie. Take all the time you need."

"I'll start slowly. I don't want it to hurt."

"I'm not a virgin."

He smiled in delight. "This regeneration is."

She laughed. Of course. Everything grew back each cycle.

"You have a point."

River hooked her legs around the Doctor's waist and relaxed her pelvic muscles. The Doctor guided himself forward. He was very careful, watching her face for any signs of pain. She bit her lip at the pressure. Suddenly, she felt a popping sensation and he slipped gently inside her. It didn't hurt at all, not even a twinge. He had two pulses. They throbbed against her inner walls at slightly different intervals than her own heartbeat.

"Oh, River...River, River," the Doctor breathed her name like a prayer. His green eyes shone with wonder. That look he always got whenever he stumbled onto something completely new. He ran his fingers through her curly hair. "It's been centuries since I've been this close to a woman."

River smiled, lightly kissing his bottom lip. "I've waited my whole life for this. For _you_."

A lifetime to love the man she was taught to kill. Now he was inside her, and nothing stood between their souls except their skin.

She traced an aimless pattern across his collarbones and around his prominent Adam's apple. It bobbed in a quick swallow beneath her fingers.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yes."

The Doctor adjusted his weight and gave a few test thrusts. Two straight forward- those almost took her breath away- and two in an upwards direction that didn't do much for her. "Which feels better to you?"

"The first." River gasped.

He smiled. "We need to work out a signal in case one of us gets too excited. I can simply stop, but how will you tell me if- "

River pushed against his shoulders. "I'll do that. And if I'm on top, you do the same. Simple enough, sweetie?"

Nodding, the Doctor bent to gently kiss her mouth. His hips went into motion again, and goosebumps broke out on River's skin. The sparse hair on his pubic region kept rubbing against her in the most delightful way. She angled her hips to feel it more and relished the slow pushing and pulling of his body moving in harmony with hers.

"Ah...ah, a moment...I'm a little _too_ excited!" The Doctor trembled and held still.

River kissed him deeply. "Is it too much?"

His bashful smile nearly ended her on the spot. "No." He touched his lips against her brow. "You're never too much for me."

She playfully twisted his left ear. He laughed and nibbled on hers, sending shivers down her spine. She couldn't help tangling her fingers in his hair. He resumed thrusting, and his hot breath wafted across her earlobe. She breathed in and tugged, forgetting she'd practically grabbed his scalp.

"Do that again," he grunted, "I like it."

River pulled his hair some more. He bore his teeth and his hips moved faster. The pressure in her nether regions came in waves. Like ocean swells of _him_ washing across the core of her being. She gasped for the breath he kept taking away.

"Ohhh, River...you feel incredible...oh..."

The fragility in the Doctor's voice left River's heart pounding. She could kill him now, easily, if she'd still been the assassin she was raised to be. Instead, she opened her legs a little wider and drew him deeper inside.

It wasn't long before he needed to stop again. Not wanting to leave her cold, he took one of her erect nipples into his mouth.

"Try biting it," River said.

He did. It felt _amazing_. This body liked things her previous one hardly noticed!

"Ahh!" She practically smashed his face against her breasts, her fingers mussing up his hair. He gently chewed on her for a good minute. She writhed and moaned in delight.

"Mm..." The Doctor's teeth scraped along the curve of her breast. He moved up and mouthed the pulse in her throat. She felt him resume thrusting. His face and chest were beginning to flush red. It matched perfectly with the heat she sensed on her own face.

"Come on," he grunted, "up we go."

"Up we- "

The Doctor hauled River upright and guided her hands to the ropes on the wall. The ladder by the bed continued up the wall to nowhere- and provided excellent handholds. Being upright let gravity create even more friction and gave him leverage to thrust harder. River cried out sharply. She pushed against the Doctor's shoulders to stop him.

"Wait!" she panted.

They clung to each other, shaking like leaves in a windstorm.

River never wanted it to end. The Doctor was so _close_ that she could almost hear his hearts pounding. She remembered the pain she felt at realizing she caused those hearts to stop. Following it was the joy of giving up her remaining regenerations to restart them once more. And they only beat for _her_.

At River's nod, the Doctor's hips restarted their motion. River's innards clenched around him. Each time he thrust inward, a wave of golden light sprang from the point of their joining and spread outward along their skin. They kissed- or at least managed a sloppy approximation of one.

Then the Doctor groaned and pulled out completely. His eyes gave off a faint gold sheen. The veins in his glistening erection bulged and his scrotum was tight against his body.

"Ahh, just one more stop..." He took several deep breaths and accosted his manhood. "You! Slow down, you silly, pulsing...thing!"

River chuckled at his antics. "It's nice to know everything works properly."

"Mm, yes." And he kissed her deeply, sucking on her bottom lip. "River, I'm so sorry for-"

"Don't be," River panted so hard her breasts heaved. She reached between her legs and touched herself to keep her arousal high. Her whole pelvis felt swollen and hot. She shivered against her fingertips. "You have excellent control. I like that in a man."

Manly pride gleamed in his eyes. River could almost see his ego swelling. He came forward to kiss her again. She welcomed the wet warmth of his tongue against the roof of her mouth. He still tasted like the sweet wine he'd sipped and promptly spat back out during their date.

"Ready," whispered the Doctor. "Are you?"

"Yes." River lifted herself up to guide him back inside. He filled her where she ached for him the most. The short break let her innards become even more sensitive. His two pulses nearly sent her over the edge.

"Ah! Oh...oh my..." River draped her legs over his hips and met his gaze.

The Doctor's green eyes were dilated and shimmering. She could almost see straight into his hearts. Nobody else in the universe looked at her like that. It made her want to crawl inside his soul and live there, never to leave his presence again.

He planted a light kiss on her chin and slowly rolled his hips. Long, deep thrusts. The golden glow she saw earlier reappeared. Brighter now, and steadily growing in intensity. His thrusts grew shallower and faster as he neared completion.

"I love you," he sighed in her ear as the gold light reached his eyes.

"Love you, too!" River answered breathlessly.

Everything in her lower pelvis throbbed. The glow between them gathered where her body ached so delightfully. It followed the sensation creeping up her torso and suddenly flared throughout her body.

River called the Doctor's real name. He answered with hers. His face twisted and tears sprang from beneath his tightly closed eyelids. Like the rest of him, they, too, gave off their own light.

She braced herself against the mattress. His hands found hers. He opened his eyes to meet hers, and in them she saw the wholeness of time, space and how much he loved her. The intensity of his gaze was enough to make her shed tears of her own, for no single body could contain such emotion.

The Doctor kissed River deeply, passing his glow to her and accepting the light she sent to him. Suddenly the sensation that had almost tapered off returned anew, blazing brighter than a billion quasars. They rode their simultaneous orgasm like surfers on a supernova shockwave. For a single moment in all of the universe, they became a united being.

When it was over and the golden light retreated back into their bodies, River realized the Doctor was weeping. She held him in her shaking arms, letting him cry on her shoulder.

"Shhh, Doctor," she said gently in his ear. "Oh, sweetie..."

She scooted under the covers with him and kissed his salty tears away.

The Doctor reigned in his emotions. He blinked several times and cleared his throat. "Sorry...didn't expect that to happen."

He did not want to talk about it. She couldn't bring herself to press the issue.

River smiled, keeping him close. "I always wanted a man to love me enough to cry about me."

He sniffed and chuckled. His breathing slowly evened out. "Mm...I think I regenerated. Only a little."

She brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Some like to call it a 'little death.'"

"The French. Yes, quite romantic, aren't they?" The Doctor yawned and clicked his teeth like a satisfied feline. He laid his head on the same pillow where River rested hers.

River slipped herself off his softening erection and settled face to face with him. He gathered her close, kissing the top of her head.

They laid that way for awhile, their bodies two long lumps among the forgotten dinosaur comforter and white sheets.

"Mm, sweetie, let's visit Paris next time. How about New Year's Eve in twenty-nine ninety-nine?"

No answer.

River pushed herself up on one elbow. The Doctor's hair covered half his face and his mouth was relaxed. He breathed steadily, emitting occasional soft snores.

She'd never seen him asleep before. He looked precious.

With her hand, she tenderly brushed his hair off his closed eyes. He did not flinch. Her fingertips traced the shell of his ear, the curve of his jaw and the softness under his bottom lip. She kissed him there. His mouth twitched in a small smile- a surprisingly infantile reflex.

River sat up completely. The length of the Doctor's naked frame lay spread out before her. He was long all over. Long legs, long feet, long arms and long fingers. She bent to kiss one of his hands. He slept so deeply the gesture didn't rouse him.

Because he trusted her enough to be vulnerable in her presence.

She sighed and watched the Doctor until his eyes began moving rapidly beneath his closed lids. His eyebrows twitched. He mumbled her name in his sleep. She smiled in satisfaction and decided she wasn't finished with him yet.

Stealthily, like a cat on the prowl, River slipped down the rope ladder. She collected all of the Doctor's clothes and hid them in the utility panel outside the bedroom door. Then she climbed back into the bed with a satisfied grin.

"Good night, sweetie."

.o

Shifting shadows woke River. She drowsily lifted her head to find a post-it note stuck to her husband's empty pillow.

_"Two can play this game,"_ it said.

River groaned as she tied her messy sex-hair into a sloppy temporary bun. She made her way into the main control room and confirmed that her evening gown was, in fact, missing.

She also found the Doctor flitting about the hexagonal control panel. He whistled, twirled and pulled a lever.

He was still naked and utterly carefree about it.

The Doctor always tried to act happier when he knew the future held something sad. Last night, at the singing towers, he'd laughed a little too easily moments after he cried his eyes out.

River folded her arms and watched the Doctor's manhood swing around with his movements. She waited for him to notice her.

It took almost five minutes. Five glorious minutes of studying his ridiculously long legs, his bare bum and his toes.

"Ah, River!" The Doctor halted mid-spin and almost slipped on the smooth glass beneath his feet. He performed a graceless dance step to make it look intentional.

She smirked. "Hello, sweetie."

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough."

"Where are my clothes?"

"Hm...spoilers."

The Doctor laughed and chased her into the library. River took a quick left and dove into the swimming pool that was, against all logic, still located in the library's history section. She heard the Doctor splash into the warm water behind her. He swam ahead of her, turned and they shared a rough kiss underwater.

They surfaced together. She splashed him. He chuckled.

"Two can play your game, River." The Doctor said mischievously. His hair had fallen completely in his eyes. He wiped it off his face and swam not-so-gracefully for the pool's edge. In a flash he'd gotten out and climbed onto the diving board.

"I like games." River cooed at him. She backstroked until she touched the edge of the pool.

"_Geronimo!_" The Doctor jumped over River's head and did a cannonball into the pool.

"Augh!" River shielded her face from the torrent of water. "You're terrible!"

"You like it," the Doctor waggled his eyebrows at her.

She moved his hair off his face and kissed him. "Mm, I do."

He smiled sweetly. "River, where did you put my clothes?"

"I lost them."

The Doctor pouted his bottom lip out at her.

River imitated it. She looked upward and spotted last night's evening gown hanging off the chandelier above the pool.

The Doctor followed her gaze. He chuckled. "Have fun finding your shoes."

"You!" She dunked him, vaulted herself onto the pool's edge and grabbed one of the brightly colored pool noodles propped against the wall. In order to reach her dress with it, she had to climb onto the diving board.

"Almost got it." River hooked the pool noodle under one of the straps and lifted the evening gown off the chandelier. She barely saved it from falling into the pool by raising the noodle straight up to let the dress fall towards her instead. "Aha!"

River held her dress up triumphantly and hopped off the diving board to the floor.

Splashes indicated the Doctor climbing out of the pool. His wet hair stuck to the side of his face and water beaded on his pale skin. River lightly smacked him upside the head with the pool noodle. He smiled, grabbed it and flung it over his shoulder, not caring where it landed.

The TARDIS was kind enough to warm their environment. Neither felt chilled despite being wet, bedraggled and naked.

"I made _your_ clothes easy to find," the Doctor fake-pouted.

She turned to stare him in the eyes. And smiled.

"You have a whole wardrobe." Then she put her dress on, not caring about her wet skin or hair. She sighed. "I should go...I had a wonderful time, but I need to go."

The Doctor's amused grin slipped. Amazing, how his face went from so happy to so sad. His eyes actually started to well up.

There was something awful in her near future. Something far more horrible than him not recognizing her.

River pulled the Doctor close seconds before he broke down completely. She wasn't sure the drips she felt on her shoulder were water or his tears. Whichever it was, there were many. He seemed suddenly small and fragile.

"This may be the last time we see each other in synch," whispered the Doctor. "It has been an incredibly long time since I've felt this way. I don't want it to end. I hate endings!"

River winced in sympathy and kissed him by the ear. "But good things end to make room for better things." She cupped his face in her hands and leaned back, looking into his red-rimmed green eyes.

Those ageless eyes held such love for her. All of space, time and the universe could not encompass the emotion in his gaze. Those eyes had seen so much, and right now all they could see was her. It went straight to her heart. She wiped his tears away to avoid shedding her own.

"Your clothes are somewhere near your room."

He managed to chuckle. "What about your shoes?"

She winked. "Keep them as a souvenir."

The Doctor managed an amused grin. He walked her to the TARDIS door. At the control panel, he stopped and caught something it just spat out.

"Here." He handed her a modified version of his sonic screwdriver. "A little wedding present."

River beamed and kissed his nose. "It's lovely! I'll have to find you something special. Well, the you I meet might not realize it's a wedding gift, but...you like presents anyway."

His face lit up. "Always! I love presents! Might I suggest a new fez?"

She laughed. "Don't push it."

The expression he shot her resembled a kicked puppy.

River rolled her eyes affectionately. She faced away to tuck her sonic screwdriver into a hidden pocket in her dress. The Doctor made a noise, something between clearing his throat and a sob. She turned to ask him if he was all right. He was still gazing at her like she was the only being in the universe.

He'd never looked more vulnerable.

Leaving him would be hard, but she held hope that their present timelines would someday cross again.

"See you next time." River said. She added his name to the end of it and winked.

The Doctor touched his quivering lips to her brow. "Until next time, Melody."

River stepped out into the dark alley outside the apartment where she lived. It was the year five thousand and ten and nearly six hours to the minute since the Doctor arrived to sweep her off to Darillium.

Her toes ached on the cold, wet ground. Going without shoes wasn't the wisest idea, but there was no turning back now. She blew her husband a chaste kiss that he pretended to catch.

"When will you be back?"

He smiled again. Sadly.

"Spoilers."

Then he closed the TARDIS doors. The ancient time machine wheezed and dematerialized.

River swore she heard muffled weeping as the TARDIS faded away.

_Oh, that man!_ She held her chest to slow her heart and used her new sonic screwdriver to check the time. _Hm, I have three hours to freshen up for my meeting_.

The sun came up, lighting the previously dark alley. Its glow shimmered in River's green eyes. She watched it with a smile.

.o

**Hundreds of years later...**

Time did not pass in the created reality the same way it did in the outside world. To River, it always felt as though she just arrived only days ago. Maybe _that_ happened because of her 'recent' visit to Trenzalore.

She saw the toll everything took on her beloved husband. He grieved for the loss of her parents. He grieved for _her_.

He refused to say goodbye. She got a 'see you later' and that's it.

_Everyone knows that everyone dies_...

River woke in her fluffy white bed. Someone was knocking on her door. She grumbled, donned her white robe and pulled her curly locks back in a ponytail to give it the illusion of not being bed hair.

The knocking grew more persistent.

"Yes, yes, I'm coming!" River called.

She yanked the door open and froze.

There stood the Doctor. He looked just as he did when they met and he carried a large bouquet of roses in his left hand.

_...and nobody knows it like the Doctor_.

His green eyes twinkled at the shocked look on River's face. He grinned.

"Honey, I'm home."

River's heart lodged itself in her throat. "Doctor..." She blinked and shook her head. "You can't be real. You're a construct, aren't you? The program senses me missing you and created a copy to make me feel better."

The Doctor joined her in the foyer. The plastic surrounding the flowers in his hand crackled when he handed them to her. "No. It's really _me_. You can say I'm an email attachment set to open under the right conditions." He lifted both eyebrows and grinned proudly. "When you and I _did it_, a little part of me went to you, and a bit of you went to me and acted as a peer to peer connection."

_But I do think that all the skies in all the worlds might just turn dark, if he ever accepts it_.

River glanced at the modified sonic screwdriver on the table by the door.

"You died. Out there, you just died, didn't you?"

The Doctor scrunched his nose up. "Mm, actually, I regenerated." He rubbed his hands together. "I set the neural relay to keep downloading me until the thought patterns of my brain ceased to function. Regeneration changes the brain's thought patterns just enough that the program activated and sent me here. I promised Clara that I would never forget when the Doctor was me. I hate endings, so I created a clever work-around. And you're wearing your impressed face."

"You!" River grabbed his jacket lapels and kissed him hard. An errant thought made her pull back. "But that was your last one, wasn't it? Your thirteenth regeneration. You aren't supposed to- "

"Oh, River, River, River..." He pulled her close and nuzzled his cheek against her forehead. "A lot happened since you saw me at Trenzalore. You can say I found a reset button. Actually, I might have already found it, and I had to live to that point, but...ah! River, I'll tell you everything later! I'd like to show you something. Come along."

_Some days are special_...

The Doctor set River's roses beside her sonic screwdriver and pulled her by the hand towards the TARDIS. His steps had a spring she hadn't seen in a long time. He guided her inside and shut the doors with all the excitement of a child at a carnival.

"It's not the actual TARDIS. But!" He twirled up the stairs to the controls. It was the whimsical control room from when they first met, not the stark silver one he built after losing the Ponds. "It does act like a desktop icon. I can click it and open a whole new program! Are you ready?"

River laughed and leaned on the railing. "Of course!"

_Some days are so, so blessed_...

The Doctor's face lit up. He pulled the lever. The TARDIS wheezed and vibrated until he commanded it to stop.

When he opened the doors again, the landscape looked completely different. River gazed in awe at the rust colored ground and an orange sky. Trees with dazzling silver leaves reflected the morning sun, giving the appearance of fire.

River faced the Doctor. Reflections of the landscape shone in his eyes. The sadness that used to be in them was gone.

_Some days, nobody dies at all_...

"Yes. All those cracks led to the universe where I put my home." He gestured at the horizon. "It's alive, and this program will keep it the way I remember it. It's _alive_, River. It's somewhere out there, and my next regeneration might be the lucky bloke who finds it."

She played with a loose curl and smiled. The air smelled like freshwater. She could hear the babble of a brook somewhere in the field.

_Now and then, every once in a very long while_...

"But what about the others saved in the Library?"

He winked. "The TARDIS icon is still visible in the garden. They'll wander into it eventually. Also..." He wiped his hair off his face, "The entire library on the TARDIS is available to this program. We're able to access any book you like. Why read a story when you can _live_ it?"

..._every day in a million days_...

That man! That wonderful, incredible man! Was there anything he _didn't_ consider beforehand?

She grasped his hand. A pleasantly warm wind sent her white robe fluttering around her legs. They stepped outside together. Brilliant sunlight shone on their faces.

..._when the wind stands fair and the Doctor comes to call_...

"So, what do you want in a house?" The Doctor waved his sonic screwdriver. "Two stories? Three stories? A grand staircase and fancy chandeliers? A swimming pool? A garden? A couple of- "

River grabbed the Doctor's sonic screwdriver and tossed it aside. She tackled him into the grass and sat triumphantly on his stomach.

"All of the above, but it can wait." River leaned over to look him in the eyes. "Hello, sweetie."

She loved being able to make him blush.

"He-hello," he groped for a proper word, "honey."

River chuckled as she bent to kiss his smiling lips.

..._everybody lives_.


End file.
